Teresa’s Weekly Update: The (R)Evolution Continues

Last week, we returned from our Audience (R)Evolution Learning Convening in Philadelphia, and our minds and hearts are still revving from all the ideas, connections and (not one but two) banjo-songs written expressly for the Convening by our facilitator extraordinaire, Lisa Mount! We heard from experts on the cutting edge of gamification, hospitality and digital engagement; participated in model-sharing sessions and problem-solving clinics; and were inspired by the (R)Ev-ifestos of Donna Walker-Kuhne, Michael Rohd, Anthem Salgado and Trish Santini. I hope you were able to follow along on the livestream, and we’ll be sharing the archived videos from the sessions by the end of this month.

According to Rohd’s (R)Ev-ifesto, “democracy needs an audience revolution more than the not-for-profit arts sector,” and you might well agree after the failure to prevent the across-the board spending cuts of the sequester. Besides the more general impact of the $85.3 million total cuts, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) will see grants cut 3.2% for the remainder of FY13—the overall domestic cuts are 5.3%, which the NEA has been able to minimize internally. We’ll continue to follow this story and its potential impact on our field as it develops.